Whenever anyone asks me about my religion I no longer prevaricate with my answer as I did years ago but instead say boldly "I am a Spiritualist." So why am I so certain and proud of my religious beliefs? Well, I have during my lifetime been involved and learned from other Christian religions but to me Spiritualism is the gem of them all. What makes it so special to me?

Well, FIRSTLY, I think that the ethics of Spiritualism are unsurpassed by any other religion. God gave us His commandment "Thou shalt not kill". All other Christian religions interpret this as "Thou shalt not kill humans." Only Spiritualists see this command as applying to ALL God's creation. Other life forms also have souls which is something else that other churches do not believe in. However I have heard enough communications from the next world to know that our beloved animals, both wild and domesticated, also survive death. All true Spiritualists are vegetarian. So God created his animal kingdom to share this world with us and we dare to make some of his creation extinct and subject others to appalling cruelties in order to enhance our own lifestyle. We are also contaminating the earth and interfering with nature, our oceans are so polluted that creatures who call the seas home are struggling to exist and even the air we breathe is no longer pure due to the poisonous fumes we allow to permeate it. I believe that God wants us to be guardians of His world and all the inhabitants that dwell in it. Why do other religions and churches do nothing to stop such actions? SECONDLY the Spiritualist religion believes that sins carry consequences and does not believe in the concept of a 'Saviour God' where you can live a sinful life and be welcomed into the next world because someone else has already paid the price of your misdeeds. What would we think if such a system of justice prevailed on the earth today? We complain when light sentences are handed down to criminals. To experience the consequences of your sin is an incentive not to re-offend. The automatic writing off of sin does nothing to reform the sinner and it is only the Spiritualist Church with its principles of "Personal Responsibility" and "Retribution for all evil deeds done on earth" which preaches of this. However Spiritualism also preaches of "Eternal Progress open to every soul"

so everyone has more than one chance to t urn their life around and make good from the sins of the past. Thirdly, only The Spiritualist Church can provide the proof that there is no death, that life is continuous, that the grave is not the end and that we will all meet up again in a new and better world. This is a great source of comfort to the bereaved and can help to alleviate their grief. They can actually receive a message from a loved one now departed and be given proof that it is indeed either him or her. They are thus enable to carry on with their life on this earth while looking forward to a glorious reunion in the next world. No other church can offer this solace. I know of those who have been regular churchgoers all their lives and yet do not know what happens after death and indeed dread and fear the happening. I believe that I came from the next world to experience a life on earth and that I will return to that world when my time on earth is ended. Is it not time that other churches preach to their followers of life eternal? Surely it is up to all religions to proclaim that we all belong not to one nation, not to one race, not to one faith but to the one family of God. Only this teaching can put an end to the war and bloodshed which is taking place all over our world today.